Science Daily July 31, 2020 By taking advantage of the high‐dimensional Hilbert space for orbital angular momentum and using Perfect Vortex beams as their carriers, researchers in South Africa have presented a proof‐of‐principle implementation of a high‐dimensional quantum secret sharing scheme. This scheme is experimentally implemented with a fidelity of 93.4%, for 10 participants in =11 dimensions. The implementation can easily be scaled to higher dimensions and any number of participants, opening the way for securely distributing information across a network of nodes…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Thermal chaos returns quantum system to its unknown past
Nanowerk August 6, 2020 The previous work of an international team of researchers (Russia, USA – Argonne National Laboratory, University of Chicago) dealt with a predefined quantum state. The problem with having to know which state you are reversing is the need to record it. This was not really an issue for the small computer made up of two or three quantum bits, which was used in last year’s study. But scaling up the experiment ramps up the memory requirements. Each additional qubit doubles the amount of memory needed. To address this, the researchers came up with a universal algorithm […]
Whitepaper evaluates opportunities and risks of nanomaterials
Nanowerk August 4, 2020 An international team of researchers led by Italy provides an overview of the state‐of‐the‐art regarding risk governance of nanomaterials (NMs) and lays out the theoretical basis for the development and implementation of an effective, trustworthy, and transparent risk governance framework for NMs. The proposed framework enables continuous integration of the evolving state of the science, leverages best practice from contiguous disciplines and facilitates responsive re‐thinking of nanosafety governance to meet future needs. They developed a science‐based Risk Governance Council (RGC) for NM research. The framework to be expanded to relevant advanced materials and emerging technologies…read more. […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of July 31, 2020
01. Metal-breathing bacteria could transform electronics, biosensors, and more 02. New fabric could help keep you cool in the summer, even without A/C 03. Researchers create surface coating that can create false infrared images 04. Scientists develop novel transparent broadband electromagnetic interference shielding materials 05. Self-healing soft material outsmarts nature 06. Tailored meta-grid of nanoparticles boosting performance of light-emitting diodes 07. Army research enables conversational AI between soldiers, robot 08. ‘Drawn-on-skin’ electronics offer breakthrough in wearable monitors 09. Taking the guesswork out of twistronics 10. ‘Fool’s gold’ may be valuable after all And others… Back to the Lab? We Want […]
Army research enables conversational AI between soldiers, robot
EurekAlert July 27, 2020 A team of researchers in the US (US Army, University of Southern California) supported by the Army Next Generation Combat Vehicle Army Modernization Priority and the Army Priority Research Area for Autonomy has developed the Joint Understanding and Dialogue Interface (JUDI) which enables bi-directional conversational interactions between soldiers and autonomous systems through bidirectional speech and dialogue in tactical operations. The technology gives the robot the ability to ask for clarification or provide status updates as tasks are completed. The dialogue processing is based on a statistical classification method. JUDI is designed for tasks that require reasoning […]
Back to the Lab? We Want to Hear From You
American Physical Society July 27, 2020 As scientists around the world are slowly returning to their offices and labs APS News and Physics want to hear about their experiences. What plans have they made to keep themselves or their group safe? How is distancing affecting their interactions? How have months away from the lab affected their perspective? Tell them your story in a brief (100–200 words) letter to physics@aps.org. Pictures are welcome too. Each week, APS News and Physics will select a few of these letters and photos to share online…read more.
‘Drawn-on-skin’ electronics offer breakthrough in wearable monitors
EurekAlert July 30, 2020 The existing wearable bioelectronics are susceptible to motion artifacts as they lack proper adhesion and conformal interfacing with the skin during motion. A team of researchers in the US (University of Houston, University of Chicago) has developed ultra-conformal Drawn-on-Skin (DoS) electronics as a new bioelectronic platform for on-demand multifunctional, motion artifact-free sensing. The devices are based on the Ag flakes/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (Ag-PEDOT:PSS) composite, poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) nanofibrils (P3HT-NF), and ion gel as the conductive, semiconducting, and dielectric inks, respectively. As a versatile platform, DoS electronics devices such as thin-film transistors, strain sensors, and electrophysiological sensors have been developed. It […]
‘Fool’s gold’ may be valuable after all
Phys.org July 30, 2020 Magnetoionic devices either electrically tune a known ferromagnet or electrically induce ferromagnetism from another magnetic state which is a limitation for practical use. A team of researchers in the US (University of Minnesota, Augsburg University) took the non-magnetic iron sulfide material and put it in a device in contact with an ionic solution. When they applied as little as 1 volt positively charged molecules were moved to the interface between the electrolyte and iron sulfide, and induced magnetism. Importantly, they were able to turn off the voltage and return the material to its non-magnetic state. The […]
Magnetic nanoparticles change their magnetic structure in a magnetic field
Nanowerk July 27, 2020 Up to now, scientists assumed that magnetism in a nanoparticle is essentially limited to this core area. Using neutron scattering on cobalt ferrite nanoparticles an international team or researchers (France, Germany, Czech Republic) has shown that the applied magnetic field causes some of the previously disordered magnetic moments in the surface region to become aligned, and thus ordered in a way comparable to the magnetization in the core region. However, a residual area with differently aligned spins remains on the surface, which cannot be ordered by the applied magnetic field. Overall, the research showed that the […]
Metal-breathing bacteria could transform electronics, biosensors, and more
Science Daily July 28, 2020 Some bacteria that are adapted to specific geochemical or biochemical environments can create interesting and novel materials. Researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute synthesised molybdenum disulfide nanomaterials at the site of S. oneidensis biofilms grown in the presence of molybdenum trioxide and sodium thiosulfate. Analysis revealed the presence of molybdenum disulfide nanoparticle aggregates 50–300 nm in diameter with both hexagonal and rhombohedral polytypes. The use of S. oneidensis offers the advantage of significantly reduced heat and chemical solvent input compared to conventional methods of synthesizing molybdenum disulfide nanoparticles. The process can be used for the generation […]